Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is defined as a type of anxiety disorder in which you have unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to engage in repetitive behaviors (compulsions).

Obsession (on-going thoughts or impulses; "obsessive worries")
Symptoms / excessively worried about:


  • germs or dirt
  • hurting other people
  • illness or injury (involving the person or someone else)
  • coming across unlucky numbers or words
  • things being even or straight
  • things being perfect or just right in a certain way
  • making mistakes or not being sure
  • doing or thinking something bad

Compulsion (repetitive physical and/or mental behavior)
Symptoms -


  • excessive hand washing or showering
  • counting (like having to count 25 white cars before going into school)
  • touching (like touching every single fence post between home and the bus stop)
  • checking things over and over again (such as doors, locks, or stoves)
  • doing things a certain number of times (like having to try on five dresses before leaving your room)
  • arranging things in a very particular or neat way
  • asking the same question over and over again
  • tying and retying shoes over and over until they feel just right
  • re-reading, erasing, and re-writing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBkveiaKfBk&feature=related

Treatment for OCD
There are basically two ways to treat OCD- medicine and therapy.
Medicine - People can take medicine that tone down the obsessions and compulsions. These different types of medicines don't completely cure OCD, but can make the fears and worries less intense.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most common type of medicine used for OCD.
Therapy -People can receive
psychotherapy. A professional can help a person suffering from OCD undergo
longer time periods without engaging in obsessive and/or compulsive behaviors.

Prognosis
The prognosis of OCD depends on how you deal with it. If it is left untreated, then it can stay with the victim for his/her whole life. Usually, the older you get, the worse the OCD gets. For most cases, with the proper medicine and therapy, improvement and even full recovery is possible. Only 20% of people with OCD are not affected by treatment.

Current Statistics as of Dec.30 2008

  • 3.3 million adult Americans have OCD
  • Rate of Getting OCD: 6,255,999 per year, 521,333 per month, 120,307 per week, 17,139 per day, 714 per hour, 11 per minute, 0 per second in the USA
  • OCD cost the U.S. $8.4 billion in 1990; nearly 6% of the total mental health bill of $148 billion

Current Research

Current research with OCD is focused on finding better treatments for OCD patients. New types of treatment were already found with this research.

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